Opt-In Sex Ed Bills Hurt Young People

"We do exist and we will fight back."

In this op-ed, Chase Strangio, a staff attorney for the ACLU LGBT & HIV Project, explains why bills seeking to restrict how educators talk about LGBTQ identity are harmful to young people.

This year, state legislatures are coming up with new and dangerous ways to target LGBTQ young people.

After years of efforts to push transgender young people out of public life through bars on restroom and locker room use, lawmakers have taken a new tact this year with efforts to limit discussion of the existence of LGBTQ people in educational settings.

A South Dakota bill that thankfully died in committee would have barred mention of “gender identity or expression” in kindergarten through 7th grade.

The Indiana Legislature is currently considering a sex ed bill that could have sweeping and dangerous ramifications for LGBTQ students.
A previous version of the bill, SB 65, barred “provid[ing] a student with instruction on human sexuality, including sexual activity, sexual orientation, or gender identity, unless the parent of the student … has provided the school with written consent for the instruction.” The bill passed the Senate and is now in the House. The House Education committee amended the bill on February 20 to remove the language about gender identity and sexual orientation, thankfully, and to loosen the opt-out nature of the bill, but new amendments or old language could be reintroduced on the House floor.

Opt-in sex ed bills like Indiana’s jeopardize the health and safety of all students. As Planned Parenthood Advocates of Indiana and Kentucky explain in a Twitter thread, bills like SB 65 could make it easier for a parent or guardian abusing their child to shield the child from receiving sexual health and education programming like “good touch/bad touch” and information about consent and bodily autonomy.

Legislation like this would also have real consequences for LGBTQ students. The original sweeping language of the bill could have barred all mention of LGBTQ people without prior parental authorization. When lawmakers attempt to restrict discussion of LGBTQ people, it could chill educators from even having informal conversations about LGBTQ issues with students struggling with their identities and experiences, and restrict school administrators from responding to and preventing bullying. How can a school administrator limit bullying of LGBTQ students if they are restricted from talking about the very issues driving the bullying and discrimination? How is a teacher supposed to help their student manage a hostile environment if they are afraid to mention sexual orientation or gender identity?

It has been proven to be exceedingly harmful for LGBTQ young people when the existence of the trans experience and LGBT identities are erased from conversations about sexual health. But with a bill that goes much further, potentially codifying that erasure in school curricula and chilling even informal conversations between students and staff, it could be life-threatening.

A joint report from leading advocacy groups explains, “[s]ex education programs that stigmatize LGBTQ people help cultivate hostile school environments by ignoring LGBTQ identities and experiences, or worse, actively promoting LGBTQ stigma.” In a 2015 survey of LGBTQ students’ experiences in schools, over 57% of respondents already report feeling unsafe in school because of their sexual orientation. The numbers are similar for students reporting on their gender expression. The absence of school safety and the promotion of LGBTQ stigma can lead to students missing school, dropping out, facing school discipline, and a range of negative health outcomes.

As a transgender father of a young child, it breaks my heart to imagine sending my child into a school system where her family couldn’t be mentioned, where her experience in the world couldn’t be acknowledged and protected, where all students, whoever they grow up to be, can see themselves reflected in school curricula and dialogue.

It is easy to lose sight of what is happening in state legislatures while we fight so many battles against the federal government. But bills are swiftly moving towards law that could have dangerous and far-reaching consequences on the people we love and care about. SB 65 was one of the worst examples of those bills. Thankfully, it has been amended but if the old version reemerges and passes, it is going to impair educators, endanger students, and stigmatize an already vulnerable population of young people who are looking to the adults in their lives to model love and acceptance.

We must stay vigilant in the fight against bills like SB 65 and South Dakota’s SB 160. There is a concerted effort from the federal government down to the states to roll back protections for LGBTQ people and one of the most dangerous ways that is happening is through efforts to bar mention of our existence. But we do exist and we will fight back.